Commercial food product slicers are widely utilized as rapid and effective means for slicing meat, cheese, vegetables and other food products. The slicers commonly include a rotatable, disc-like blade, and a reciprocating tray that brings the food product into contact with the rotating blade to cut a slice from the food product. Most slicers also include a movable gauge plate that adjusts the position of the food product relative the blade, which varies the thickness of the slices cut off of the food product. The gauge plate typically has a "closed" position, wherein the gauge plate is slightly raised relative the blade such that the food product cannot be cut by the blade.
It is often desired to remove the tray from the slicer body to clean food, fat, or other debris off of the tray. Once the tray is removed from the slicer, it is typically carried to a sink for rinsing and cleaning. Many slicers use an interlock mechanism to ensure that the tray can only be removed from the slicer when the gauge plate is in its closed position, or when the tray is in its home position. However, existing interlock mechanisms may require a large number of parts, and many of the parts must be precision machined. Furthermore, in existing interlock mechanisms a relatively high number of components of the interlock mechanism may be located on the tray instead of being located on the body of the slicer, which makes cleaning of the tray more difficult. Accordingly, there is a need for an interlock mechanism for a slicer that has a relatively low part count and which minimizes the number of components located on the tray.